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Homemade almond butter?

Hi everyone,

I have a feeling that this question has come up quite a few times, but I just couldn’t seem to find it!

I found a good local source for organic, raw almonds, and would like to make some almond butter. I have access to a champion juicer, a vita-mix, and coconut oil (no dehydrator for the time being, so making the butter from homemade almond meal is out).

Any recipes?

Being able to make my own would really save me a lot of money!

Thanks everyone,

-Dave:)

Comments

  • coconuttycoconutty Raw Newbie

    Almond butter is pretty basic, just blend til you got butter! You can usually just eyeball it, if things aren’t coming together too well then go ahead and add a bit of oil, maybe a tablespoon or so per every 1-2 cups of almonds. Have fun! It’s good stuff, especially when homemade. Sometimes I like to mix in cinnamon and stuff. YUM :-)

  • I was wondering the same thing. I really want to make raw almond butter out of soaked and dehydrated almonds, but whenever I grind them in my vita-mix it just turns into crumbs, kind of like dough, and gets really hot. So I would love to find out how to make this too! :)

  • Keep processing and processing (or blending) until the oils start to come out. If you think you can’t do it anymore (my K-tec started to smell after awhile), then you can add some oil or water (I did water) to make it stick. It won’t be as creamy as the kind at the store, but it can still be super yummy.

    Or if you have a fancy juicer, run it through with the blank plate. That’s much quicker.

  • geniusrawmodel23geniusrawmodel23 Raw Newbie

    Mine turns out crumbly and hot (like rawclaire’s) no matter what I do…I used my Vitamix, and my Greenpower juicer..all to no avail. The only thing that worked was soaking and adding water, which was very un-almond buttery. Like davidp80 I don’t have a dehydrator, so that’s out…any ideas what I might be dong wrong?

  • deborahanndeborahann Raw Newbie

    I did the blank plate thing and it was not really spreadable. I then tried the homogenized stuff in the vitamix to get it creamy, but it gets too warm too quick and takes FOREVER to cool. I tried adding water and oil (different batches!) but it is not really like store stuff. Actually, livingtreecommunity’s is wonderful, but expensive.

  • I’m gonna actually look into buying a nut butter machine. Maybe it won’t be more than $300. I love almond butter, and can’t live without it. So I’d love to find a way to make it inexpensively. Freezer fudge, almond butter stuffed chocolate figs, nutty ice creams, quick nut milk, etc. If anybody looks into a nut butter machine, let me know how much they cost and whether you think it’s a good idea. Might be kinda interesting to operate a nut butter machine. I’d probably get sn Olde Style brand one. They are very simple.

  • coconuttycoconutty Raw Newbie

    I didn’t know they made nut butter machines! I’m curious now.

    I’m sorry you guys have had problems making almond butter. I’ve made creamy almond butter in the vitamix a few times. Are some almonds maybe not as oily as other kinds??? Also how much do you process at once? I always do at least 2 cups worth and you gotta really use that tamper to really pack in down in there to get it to blend up nicely.

  • SamiliciousSamilicious Raw Newbie

    coconutty and cherie03,

    Do you guys dehydrate and soak your almonds? Sigh, I don’t have a dehydrator either and I’m also looking for a way to make the butter by soaking and NOT dehydrating. Doubt its possible though…

  • SamiliciousSamilicious Raw Newbie

    Yeah, I’m also curious about the nut butter machines!

  • well that’s useless. I looked up the Olde Tyme nut butter machines and they cost $1500 plus $60 shipping. That sucks. But at my grocery store, they have nut butter machines sitting out in public, that the staff usually have roasted nuts in it to grind. Sometimes the nut butter machines are empty. Even though customers are not allowed to operate the nut butter machines, I do know how to. Might be kinda interesting if I put my raw soaked and dehydrated almonds in an empty machine, and ground myself some raw almond butter. lol Maybe there’s cheaper nut butter makers out there.

  • coconutty-do you use a food processor to grind your almond butter? Or a vita-mix? I tried the vita-mix. Many people say food processorrs do the trick. I think I’ll get one. Have you ever made almond butter out of soaked and dehydrated almond butter? When you grind the almonds, do they easily turn into a butter? Or does it take a lot of grinding and get hot easily? Thanks!

  • okay, here’s a cheaper nut butter machine for $90:
    http://www.fernsnutrition.com/hmnutbutter.html

  • TomsMomTomsMom Raw Newbie

    Oh, wow, rawclaire, that IS affordable! Thank you for posting that link.

  • Thanks for all the input guys – Looks like we’re all having similar troubles figuring this out. I had thought about purchasing a nut butter machine myself, but was turned off by the cost. Do you think all the commercial manufacturers are using nut butter machines for their productions?

    -Dave:)

  • coconuttycoconutty Raw Newbie

    rawclaire – I use a vitamix. I’ve always made the butters with dry nuts, whether they are just straight from the package or soaked and then dehydrated. I had a bad experience blending just soaked nuts once so I make sure they’re dry now. Anywhoo, I do batches of about 2-2 1/2 cups of nuts, sometimes 3. Anything less than 2 cups won’t really work too well. Ok so here’s what I do… whatever amount you’re using divide it in half. Put one half into the blender (while off), and get the other portion ready to pour in, and have your tamper ready. Start blending the nuts already in the container at a reasonably hight speed, then gradually (while blender’s still running) pour in the remainder of the nuts. AS SOON AS that last nut goes in go to town with that tamper, blend on full blast and really push them down into the blades. I’d say in a good 30 secs you should have a nut butter start to form. Almonds tend to be drier, if so, add about 1-2 tablespoons of oil (of your choice) Continue to blend on full blast and you will have butter in no time. Till you get the hang of it, a cashew-macadamia butter is really yummy and VERY blendable. Mac’s are really oily so you don’t even need to add extra oil. Those nuts blend up a whole lot easier than almonds. Hope this helps you out a bit! Good luck! If you have more Q’s feel free to ask more!

  • Wow thanks coconutty! When you make almond butter, does it end up getting hot really quickly? Thanks so much for all your advice coconutty! I’ll dehydrate some almonds tonight to make the nut butter tommorrow :)

  • TomsMomTomsMom Raw Newbie

    I wonder if I’ll burn up or blow up my blender if I push it a little? I don’t know why I’m so afraid of the stupid thing.

  • coconuttycoconutty Raw Newbie

    Yeah, it can get warm sometimes, that’s why you gotta be pretty quick! If it gets warm, give it a break and throw it in the fridge for a bit (the whole container), re-group and go at it again! Those blenders are really meant to put up with abuse so go ahead and give it to them haha!

  • deborahanndeborahann Raw Newbie

    I’ve overheated mine a couple of times grinding up sprouted wheatberries to do essene bread or crackers. It was REALLY thick and doughy, so the motor got hot, but not the dough. It starts right back up when it cools. It seems well protected from abuse!

  • TomsMomTomsMom Raw Newbie

    Say, coconutty, do you think my blender can handle making sesame seed pate? It’s not nearly as strong as a Vita-Mix but it’s all I can afford for a long time. This is it:

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FBLQLG

    It’s only 1/2 horsepower and I can’t remember the power it pulls. It’s the only blender I’ve ever owned and like I said, I am afraid of it. The noise scares the crap out of me:P

  • I JUST bought some raw almonds to try a butter (I’m a newbie) and I’m wondering if I could use hazelnut oil? I see a lot of comments about coconut oil – is that the “only” kind of oil you can use?

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    I made poemomm’s two crust pie crust (with almonds & a little macadamia nuts) in the food processor, and it was very oily. Even though it had dates in it, I am thinking of trying just the nuts to make almond butter. Someone else said somewhere that a food processor works well for nut butters if you just keep letting it blend until the nuts really break down.

    jenlivigni, I have never seen raw (cold-pressed, unrefined) hazelnut oil, but it would probably work if you can get it.

  • michigan romanmichigan roman Raw Master

    ive never made nut butter so i dont know what happens but maybe this helps : i was looking at coffee grinders to grind up almonds (and seeds) for my almond milk because in my blender the almonds fly all around and dont get very powdered . so i was checking out grinders and i go wait a minute these are just mini blenders , and i guess what makes them effective is the small compaRTMENT WHICH KEEPS THE ALMONDS (sorry caps error) pushed constantly into the blades . so i went home a got a rigid type plastic glass that i could push down about 3/4 of the way into my blender jar , at that point it acts like a lid holding all jar contents down below it . then i took a towel and wrapped it over top of glass so no powder would fly out around its perimeter in jar and pushed it back in . then i blended up my almonds and instead of as usuall having to pulse blend them about 20 times to get a not very fine powder they ground up into a fine powder in a few pulses because the glass was keeping the almonds from flying all around inside the jar and rather holding them tight in close to the blade where they got powdered better . so maybe this would help for butter . it got me thinkin blender makers should include an internal jar insert for this purpose .

  • KristensRawKristensRaw Raw Newbie

    I use my food processor to make the best Raw nut and seed butter. It takes anywhere from 5-12 minutes, depending on what nuts or seeds are being used. Stop every minute or so to scrape down the sides of the container and make sure it’s not heating too much. Just let it cool if it does.

    2 cups nuts (soaked and dehydrated if possible)
    pinch of salt

    It’ll last about 1 month when stored in your refrigerator in an airtight container (mason jars are great).

    Cheers!
    Kristen Suzanne

  • suekosueko Raw Superstar

    I like using the FP better than the blender. In order for it not to get too hot, I grind a little, let it rest, grind, rest, grind, rest...until it is the texture I want. It takes a little longer, but it makes a better product and it remains raw. I just do it when I'm in the kitchen anyway washing dishes or chopping veggies. No need to add oil, a little salt is nice. HTH.

  • amyteeamytee Raw Newbie

    I've had awesome luck making my almond butter in my ninja blender- only like $80! I don't add in additional oil to it. 

    http://www.thesewildacres.com/homemade-almond-butter-recipe/

    ClaireT
  • jamesjjamesj Raw Newbie

    Depending on the size of your food processor, you can grind up to 4 cups of almonds at a time. I recommend sticking to about 3 cups, to make the process move a little faster.

  • DiorellaDiorella Raw Jr. Leader

    Soak almonds.
    After soaking, strain it, then place everything in your Vitamix, then blend until creamy. You can add a little sweetener if you want.

    Plus if you have almond butter with you, and you need almond milk, just place some almond butter in the blender, pour some water, then blend. TADA!! You have an almond milk. =)

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